Odor-free half-and-half jokbal at The Jokbal, a Sindorim restaurant

I've been craving tender jokbal (Korean braised pork trotters) for a while, so I went to The Jokbal Sindorim Main Branch, famous for its Sindorim-style jokbal! If you've ever searched for jokbal near Sindorim, you've probably seen this place before — it's been running in Sindorim since 2012, and apparently a chef with 30 years of experience at the Westin Chosun Hotel reworked jokbal into a hotel-style specialty here :)!

I think this place works well not just for people looking for good food near Guro Station, but also for anyone searching for a Sindorim spot for a comfortable group dinner!!

The Jokbal Sindorim Main Branch: location, hours and parking

The Jokbal Sindorim Main Branch is on the 1st floor of the Sindorim 3-cha Prugio Apartment commercial building, 619-3 Gyeongin-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul. It's open daily from 11:00 to 22:30, with a break time from 15:00 to 16:00 — except there's no break time on weekends and holidays.

For parking, use the basement level 1 lot at Sindorim Prugio 3-cha! They offer free parking for up to 2 hours and 30 minutes~

The "three same-day" rule: boiled and sold the same day

The Jokbal follows a '3 same-day' principle — they boil domestic grade-1 raw trotters and sell them all on the same day! Even during the roughly 3-hour boiling process, they say they carefully manage it the whole time so the flavor doesn't go off, and before boiling, the trotters go through thorough prep like massaging and ultrasonic cleaning!

It was a weeknight evening and the place was still completely packed..

When the herbal scent typical of jokbal is too strong, I end up noticing the smell before the meat flavor, so personally I'm not a huge fan — but they said The Jokbal doesn't push that herbal scent hard, going instead for a nutty, clean flavor, so I was really looking forward to it haha

Cold jokbal salad and winter radish kimchi come as standard sides

The side dishes that came out after ordering! Lettuce wraps, chive salad, bossam radish kimchi, and even cold jokbal salad all come as standard sides! It's fairly unusual for a jokbal restaurant to include cold jokbal salad as a basic side dish — it was great to pick at while waiting for the main dish.

And the radish kimchi here isn't just any radish kimchi either — they say it's made with winter radish grown on Jeju Island, made in-house and aged for 48 hours at low temperature! Eaten with the jokbal, it had a crisp, slightly sweet taste that really went well together~~

On top of that, a hot cabbage soup comes out too, and it's genuinely scalding hot ㅠㅅㅠ So one spoonful warms you right up from the inside — perfect for sipping between bites of jokbal!

Half-and-half jokbal with front leg swap (+3,000 won): any pork odor?

Half-and-half jokbal *Front leg swap (+₩3,000) Small buckwheat noodles (makguksu)

We ordered the half-and-half jokbal with the front leg swap, plus a small buckwheat noodles!

Half-and-half jokbal comes with regular jokbal and spicy fire jokbal split evenly, so I'd recommend it to anyone who'd feel like they're missing out by ordering just one kind! I started with the regular jokbal first, and yeah — there's a reason this place is famous for Sindorim-style jokbal..

There was genuinely zero odor from the jokbal, and the lean meat was tender without being dry, while the skin part had a nice chewy texture — great mouthfeel... I'm a bit sensitive when it comes to smell, so I usually struggle if there's even a hint of that typical jokbal scent, but with The Jokbal I kept eating without any smell worries at all~~ Especially since we swapped to the front leg, the meat portion was pretty thick and moist too!!

How spicy is the fire jokbal? Just above Shin Ramyun for a spice wimp

As for the fire jokbal, for someone who can't handle spice well, it's not at an unbearable level of extreme heat, but after a bite or two you do get that '"sss~~~ ha......"' reaction ㅠ.. To me it felt a little spicier than Shin Ramyun!

The pepper on top is a cheongyang chili, so eating fire jokbal together with cheongyang chili suddenly bumps up the difficulty level.... Spice wimps beware of the cheongyang chili ㅜㅜ Still, it's not just plain spicy fire jokbal — it's slightly sweet-and-spicy with the smoky flavor and sauce blending nicely, so it was great to alternate bites of it with the regular jokbal!

Why order a small makguksu with your jokbal

And it just wouldn't feel right to skip the buckwheat noodles (makguksu) while eating jokbal ♥

It comes packed with a variety of vegetables, all tossed together in a tangy-sweet sauce! You don't even need to bother mixing it yourself, which is so nice...

It's tasty on its own, but it's truly delicious eaten together with a piece of jokbal ㅜㅜㅜ Especially since the regular jokbal can start to feel a bit rich after a while, the tangy makguksu cuts right through it and keeps you eating~~

And then I got busy making wraps haha ... a lettuce leaf topped with jokbal, radish kimchi, and a bit of the makguksu vegetables, all in one bite!!! The chewy texture of the jokbal, the crunch of the radish kimchi, and the tangy-sweet makguksu all coming together at once is such a good combo.... If you're after Sindorim-style jokbal, definitely order the makguksu alongside it~~~

Review event and takeout discount at The Jokbal

They're also running a review event where you get a free sundubu jjigae (spicy soft tofu stew) or a small platter of buckwheat noodles for writing a review after visiting the store. For takeout, you get ₩2,000 off plus a free drink, so if you live nearby, takeout might be worth trying too~!

Verdict: jokbal in Sindorim without the smell

Overall I was very satisfied with The Jokbal Sindorim Main Branch — tender, chewy jokbal with none of the usual smell!! If just the regular jokbal feels like it's not enough, I'd recommend the half-and-half jokbal so you can also enjoy the spicy fire jokbal~! Add the tangy-sweet makguksu on top and the combo is complete ㅜㅜ ♥

It's also been running in Sindorim for a long time since 2012, and the menu setup works well for eating jokbal in a group, so it could be a good pick for anyone looking for a Sindorim group dinner spot! Whether you're near Sindorim or searching for good food near Guro Station, if you've been looking for a Sindorim-style jokbal restaurant that's soft, chewy, and smell-free, I highly recommend The Jokbal Sindorim Main Branch~~~~